Old Marketing versus New Marketing

It was quite interesting that I received two packages in the mail on the same day. Why? To me these two packages perfectly highlighted Old Marketing versus New Marketing.

To be fair, the Old Marketing I am referrring to, the Yellow Pages Book, was not techically delivered; it was thrown on the ground, near my mailbox in a plastic bag. But, I digress. It arrived the same day as a sample of chocolate from Montazuma chocolate.

This is the Old Marketing

When someone mentions the Yellow Pages to me, I comment that I use the book once per year; when I pick it up out of my yard and dispose of it in the trash can. Not that it doesn't have it's uses; it can be recycled, used to prop something up, hold up books on my bookcase, and other non-essential tasks. But, as an effective method to market a business; not so much. The Yellow Pages can work for some businesses as a marketing tool; but that number is decreasing rapidly, along with the number of users of the book. The majority of our population own smartphones and computers. Anything that you can find in the Yellow Pages book can be found, along with a substantial amount of other information on a business, via a Google search. This fact combined with the increasing number of homes that have eliminated home phones makes my argument that The Yellow Pages is Old Marketing.

This is New Marketing

On the same day, I received a sampling of Montazuma Chocolate from Abes Market. Their dark chocolate sample was sinfully delicous. It was fresh and just the perfect combination of chocolate and sweet, but not too sweet. The other sample, the Jungle Fever Milk Chocolate with Fruits and Nuts was beyond words! Simply the best chocolate I have ever eaten! And yes, I have eaten a lot of chocolate!

So why was this sample New Marketing? Their representaitve contacted me on Twitter after we started following each other and after they noticed some Tweets about coffee and chocolate. I provided my address to them privately and before you know it, I have a free sample in the mail. This is a perfect example of how social media can build a loyal audience! NOT the free part, but reaching out to individuals and turning them into brand ambassadors! I am a believer in their products and have become a shopper, and obviously a raving fan. Social media is not about free or about which platform a company is on; it's about buiding a community of brand ambassadors.

Social or New Marketing works. Simple as that.

This is from their website, AbesMarket.com Follow @AbesMarket on Twitter and try out their products today!

Abe's Market is the online marketplace for great natural products. We connect buyers seeking amazing natural products with the people who make them. There's no need to prowl the Internet for a broader natural product selection than can be found at your local natural market. At Abe's Market, you can get all your natural product buying done in one place.

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Discover Facebook Pages

There is a little known, to must users, location on Facbook where you can discover new Facebook Pages. Here is the link:

Facebook.com/Pages

This page provides you with several search criteria for pages that you may want to like or follow. You can narrow your search by Music, Movies, Television, People, Sports, Brands & Products, Companies & Organizations as well as Local Business & Places. It is important to note that the Local Business & Places is NOT business located near you. These pages are pages that were created using Local Business & Places category.

When you visit this page, you will see Page Invites on the right side of the screen, along with which of your friends suggested this page to you. Not sure why Facebook doesn't make these recommendations easier to find, but maybe that will change one day.

Below the Page Invites on the right, you will find Friends Similar to You. This shows your friends and if you click on it, you will discover the pages they like. This can be helpful in engaging with pages that are owned by your friends or that may be important to your friends.

I encourage you to visit the Discover Pages page often to see what is new and what your friends have recommended to you!

What are your favorite pages?

Want to connect with me? You can Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter, add me to your Circles on Google+ and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Posting a Video Does Not a Social Media Expert Make

The latest edition of the Socialnomics 3 video, an even longer 4:00+ version, has been making the rounds on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. If you are not familiar with the video, it is the world's most watched social media series by Erik Qualman. Based on #1 Best Seller Socialnomics.

Here is the video

Any time this video is updated, it is played, re-played or posted on anyone and everyone's page/profile that likes to call themselves a social media consultant. Is there anything wrong with this? No, not at all. I believe the problem is that too many people see others talking about social media and they convey onto that person the level of expert or they think that person has expertise in social media. Many times this happens because the social media consultant refers to themselves as an expert.

If you are looking for a social media consultant or partner; run like Forest Gump away from anyone, and I do mean anyone that uses the term expert, guru, or cheerleader to describe themselves! No one is a social media expert, plain and simple. Social media is still in it's infancy and we are all students. From the biggest names in the medium to someone that just signed up for Facebook, we are all now and will always be students.

If you are looking to hire a consultant or a firm to work with on social media, consider these tips:

*Check out their Facebook Business Page and Facebook personal account. How often do they post and what kind of engagement do they have with friends or fans?

*Check out their Twitter account. Do they post good information? Do they just RT information? How consistently do they engage with others on Twitter?

*Numbers are not the only thing; but how large of a network have they built? That can be a good barometer of how they can help your business engage and build a network.

*Are they early adopters and do they work to learn new technologies and platforms such as Google+?

*Ask for references of current clients; if they are at liberty to disclose those.

*Ask for references of past clients.

*Ask for information on campaigns they have successfully developed in the past.

*Do they have a blog and/or website that is updated regularly?

This is not a complete or exhaustive list, but it's a start. What are your thoughts?

For the record, I am a social media student, consultant and practitioner.

Want to connect with me? That is easy, I am always on! You can Friend me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter, add me to your Circles on Google+ and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Filed under: engagement